Cottage Cheese

Today I'm making cottage cheese.

It's a very simple recipe. My recipe says to heat the milk to 86°F. It's a bit warmer than that straight from the goat, so I brought the milk into the house, strained it and let it cool down a bit.

I've added four drops of rennet, and now I'm letting it set for one hour at room temperature.

When an hour has passed, the milk should be formed into a curd. I will then cut the curd with a knife, into 1/2 inch cubes. I will stir very gently and cut big pieces into smaller ones.

Next I'll warm the curds to 110°F, very slowly and gently. According to my recipe, the longer it takes to get to this temperature, the firmer the curds will be.

Once the temperature rises to 110°F, I'll pour the curds and whey into a colander lined with cheesecloth and drain for a few minutes.

I'll then run cold water over the curds to rinse off the whey.

The whey is very nutritious, but I am not quite sure how to use it, so I usually give it to the chickens. They love it.

And that's how you make cottage cheese.

Here is a page with some cheesemaking recipes from Mary Jane Toth.



Until next time.